Stardust Hydrangea

Gallery: FloraPosted September 6, 2010245 views21 comments

We have such a wide array of hydrangea colors and shapes. It is hard to appreciate them in a photo. I selected a variety of blossoms from the garden. Arranged on black velvet fabric using filtered window light.

I tried to show multiple transitions...the obvious is color..also blossom size and the shape of the S which diminishes towards top...and last..I darkened the top blues while keeping the lower half bright and slightly desaturated. All of this was an attempt to suggest fading away...like some sort of star-filled night sky going from the brighter horizon to the deep blue/black. Yeah, a big stretch for that analogy.

Nikon D300, Zeiss 35mm, F18, about 2-3 seconds.

Comments

21 comments

Comment posted by Bob Duff on September 6, 2010 at 4:55 PM

Ken this is sooo cool. Really like your creativity on this one. The colour gradiant arrangement and differing blossoms hold alot of interest for me. Well done..

Registered on April 21, 2010, 160 Posts, 1675 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on September 6, 2010 at 5:12 PM

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITION, supported with extraordinary color and detail. Very imaginative and unique... well done Ken!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on September 6, 2010 at 5:33 PM

Love this Ken. The different size, shapes and colors set in your composition are outstanding!

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on September 6, 2010 at 6:09 PM

Lovely composition, Ken. I like how you arranged the flowers. That one little pink flower at the bottom is sure an attention-grabber.

Nice detail.

Cheers,

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Sogn on September 6, 2010 at 6:09 PM

Creative, artistic, wonderful color and detail, wow!

Registered on January 17, 2007, 68 Posts, 210 Comments

Comment posted by David W. Kelly on September 6, 2010 at 6:13 PM

What a beauty.

Registered on October 7, 2005, 883 Posts, 6590 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on September 6, 2010 at 6:19 PM

That is such a stunning piece of art! Such imagination and creativity expressed here!

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on September 6, 2010 at 6:20 PM

As beautiful and interesting a mosaic as I recall seeing Ken, including those in my art history books. My only suggestion would be to select the white bg for the image so we can properly see the framing and aspect ratio as it is in the large image. The 720 version fails to show your design as it should.

Superbly done. I can imagine it mural size - will be stunning.

Pat

Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on September 6, 2010 at 6:25 PM

Ken: What a neat idea and superb execution. Wonderful creation. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on September 6, 2010 at 7:09 PM

Very Very Nice, Ken

. Back home in India it is quite typical to have embroidery (most often painstakingly hand made) on Ladies' garments and some of the designs I have seen mirror exactly what you have done. Wonderful Creativity, hats off.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on September 6, 2010 at 7:31 PM

Cool idea, Ken. The detailed petals keep me looking to further appreciate the image as a whole.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Southard on September 6, 2010 at 10:08 PM

Fantastic image Ken. Wonderful gradation of color. Comp, detail, and light are all top notch. I'd say you achieved what you wanted very well.

Registered on July 15, 2007, 258 Posts, 3892 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on September 6, 2010 at 10:56 PM

Hi Ken

Inspired artistry

A superb composition with amazing ,light ,color and detail

Albert Darmo. Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on September 7, 2010 at 12:04 AM

Thanks all for your generous comments.

Pat, yes...I should have placed a micro-line around the frame for the 720 size.

Cindy, the setup was fun to do. The worst was the back-ache from leaning over the camera...and tripod...a price one pays to use a prime lens.

Ram, that is great to hear. Nature's beauty... found and expressed in different forms...another commonality in all our cultures. (I like only an afternoon's effort versus months of handstitching!!)

Paul, good suggestion w/the stems...I might clone 'em out later.

Hey, no one mentioned the tiny oxalis 'Rosea' flower (pink, left side, mid-height). I smuggled this into the 'all hydrangea' composition, wanting to see who would say something.

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on September 7, 2010 at 12:13 AM

Very artistically put together Ken. One small nit and it's much more obvious on the larger image, without disturding the flow I would have like to have seen the cut of stems hidden under a petal or bud. The cut off stems hurt the flow just ever so slightly for me. Colors are wild and the different shapes are fascinating.

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by Brigitte Lorenz on September 7, 2010 at 2:25 AM

Fantastic composition....I really love it

Brigitte

Registered on January 10, 2009, 187 Posts, 1507 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Wolfenden on September 7, 2010 at 4:25 PM

Lovely mosaic- like quality to this, Ken - very imaginative composition.

Registered on May 18, 2007, 1108 Posts, 7647 Comments

Comment posted by jamie pringle on September 7, 2010 at 5:04 PM

Great effort produced a great result. Good insight and execution on a lovely display of hydrangea

Registered on August 10, 2005, 323 Posts, 1216 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on September 7, 2010 at 9:02 PM

Ken:
What a creative idea and expertly executed. I like how you are always thinking outside the box.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on September 8, 2010 at 3:04 AM

Breathtaking! Imaginative. Extraordinary.

Can you post it with a white bg? Very curious about how a high key would look... Wow.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Mel Ladewig on September 10, 2010 at 10:29 AM

Very beautiful composition Ken.

Registered on July 24, 2005, 114 Posts, 1205 Comments